me giving my fellow BFCA members the side-eye for some of their choices

Yorgos Lanthimos' pitch black comedy The Favourite led the Critic's Choice Nominations with a staggering 14 nods. Black Panther wasn't far behind with 12. The morning's biggest (and best) surprise is surely the resurgence of First Man, which had been struggling with precursors but has a very healthy 10 nominations with the BFCA. One wonders if it can rocket to a Best Picture nomination despite its box office troubles? In other very good news Toni Collette is nominated (though we aren't surprised in this case) and the foreign film list is aces. Well done.

Not that it's all good news but we're starting with the positives.

In the television categories (which are worth a read because they're quite different than the Globe nominations) Escape at Dannemora, The Americans, and The Assassination of Gianna Versace led all shows with 5 nominations a piece. The complete list of nominees is after the jump along with a few comments...

THE FILM NOMINEES

BEST PICTURE

Black Panther

BlacKkKlansman

The Favourite

First Man

Green Book

If Beale Street Could Talk

Mary Poppins Returns

Roma

A Star Is Born

Vice

The currently expected Oscar lineup plus First Man. It's a tough break for critical darlings like First Reformed and Eighth Grade but the BFCA gonna BFCA and they often ignore critical darlings in the top category despite being called "Critics Choice"

BEST ACTOR

Christian Bale – Vice

Bradley Cooper – A Star Is Born

Willem Dafoe – At Eternity’s Gate

Ryan Gosling – First Man

Ethan Hawke – First Reformed

Rami Malek – Bohemian Rhapsody

Viggo Mortensen – Green Book

Some combo of five of these men will be Oscar's five. Nice to see Gosling here though.

BEST ACTRESS

Yalitza Aparicio – Roma

Emily Blunt – Mary Poppins Returns

Glenn Close – The Wife

Toni Collette – Hereditary

Olivia Colman – The Favourite

Lady Gaga – A Star Is Born

Melissa McCarthy – Can You Ever Forgive Me?

I wasn't aware that we were expanding the category to 7 nominees. But even with 7 there was no room for Elsie Fisher OR Carey Mulligan OR Nicole Kidman? Ouch. YAY FOR TONI COLLETTE AND GLENN CLOSE.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Mahershala Ali – Green Book

Timothée Chalamet – Beautiful Boy

Adam Driver – BlacKkKlansman

Sam Elliott – A Star Is Born

Richard E. Grant – Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Michael B. Jordan – Black Panther

With two leads in the category there was no room for fine character actos like Alessandro Nivola in Disobedience or Russell Hornsby in The Hate U Give or Steven Yeun in Burning. (sigh). It is interesting, though, that the BFCA voters really loved Vice (9 nominations) but didn't feel it necessary to include Sam Rockwell or Steve Carell from that film.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Amy Adams – Vice

Claire Foy – First Man

Nicole Kidman – Boy Erased

Regina King – If Beale Street Could Talk

Emma Stone – The Favourite

Rachel Weisz – The Favourite

The expected future Oscar nominees plus Nicole Kidman. I'm horrified that Elizabeth Debicki isn't nominated. I fought the good fight for her but whenever you include leads in your supporting categories, by necessity you negate the chances of hard-working non-headliners to be recognized for their own brilliance.

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS

Elsie Fisher – Eighth Grade

Thomasin McKenzie – Leave No Trace

Ed Oxenbould – Wildlife

Millicent Simmonds – A Quiet Place

Amandla Stenberg – The Hate U Give

Sunny Suljic – Mid90s

All English-language performances (sigh). I tried to help my fellow voters with that handy eligibility list. I'm sorry but Zain Al Rafee from Capernaum and Evan Rosado from We the Animals runs circles around many of these performances. Not that these aren't talented young actors. It's a good set.

Another 7 nominee category that mirrors the Globe nominations plus Damien Chazelle (First Man) and Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite). I hate 7 wide categories. It's only interesting by comparison from group to group if there is consistency. I wish we knew who the top 5 really were.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Bo Burnham – Eighth Grade

Alfonso Cuarón – Roma

Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara – The Favourite

Adam McKay – Vice

Paul Schrader – First Reformed

Nick Vallelonga, Brian Hayes Currie, Peter Farrelly – Green Book

Bryan Woods, Scott Beck, John Krasinski – A Quiet Place

The surprise here is A Quiet Place but it's a real pity there's no room for Tully despite seven nominations. (Yes, I voted for Tully)

Only six nominations for this one -- try consistency BFCA. Consistency helps people to take you seriously! Look it up. Pity that Wildlife isn't included.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Alfonso Cuarón – Roma

James Laxton – If Beale Street Could Talk

Matthew Libatique – A Star Is Born

Rachel Morrison – Black Panther

Robbie Ryan – The Favourite

Linus Sandgren – First Man

No Cold War means I can't take this category seriously, sorry "critics". Also I like Black Panther and I love Rachel Morrison who deserved her Oscar nom for Mudbound but her work on Black Panther is not one of the five best DP jobs of the year. Sorry about it. If you wanted a female DP in there, why not Charlotte Bruus Christensen for A Quiet Place?

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Hannah Beachler, Jay Hart – Black Panther

Eugenio Caballero, Barbara Enriquez – Roma

Nelson Coates, Andrew Baseman – Crazy Rich Asians

Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton – The Favourite

Nathan Crowley, Kathy Lucas – First Man

John Myhre, Gordon Sim – Mary Poppins Returns

I am really starting to wonder what kind of movie production designer Mark Friedberg would have to make to get arrested for prizes. He's so talented and he's just always shut out, even when he designs movies with Best Picture heat. This year he designed If Beale Street Could Talk which is super gorgeous throughout.

BEST EDITING

Jay Cassidy – A Star Is Born

Hank Corwin – Vice

Tom Cross – First Man

Alfonso Cuarón, Adam Gough – Roma

Yorgos Mavropsaridis – The Favourite

Joe Walker – Widows

Hmmm. Where is BlacKkKlansman? Editing is quite obviously one of its most provocative and strongest elements.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Alexandra Byrne – Mary Queen of Scots

Ruth Carter – Black Panther

Julian Day – Bohemian Rhapsody

Sandy Powell – The Favourite

Sandy Powell – Mary Poppins Returns

Sigh. Just go ahead and ignore contemporary designs again, fellow critics. A Simple Favor was right there being instantly future culture classic iconic.

BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP

Black Panther

Bohemian Rhapsody

The Favourite

Mary Queen of Scots

Suspiria

Vice

I can dig some of these but Border shoulda been here.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Avengers: Infinity War

Black Panther

First Man

Mary Poppins Returns

Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Ready Player One

No Annihilation? BOO. Also Ant-Man and the Wasp has better effects than Black Panther. It's not as good of a movie, no, but you really should concentrate on the category at hand when you vote. We know that's a lot to ask of voters from any organization (sigh)

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

The Grinch

Incredibles 2

Isle of Dogs

Mirai

Ralph Breaks the Internet

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

The Grinch huh? Way to mainstream it! But nice to see Mirai pop up. I voted for Isle of Dogs (because I love it) and Ruben Brandt Collector (because I knew the latter needed my help, and it's totally worth seeing)

BEST ACTION MOVIE

Avengers: Infinity War

Black Panther

Deadpool 2

Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Ready Player One

Widows

A conundrum. I am secretly a fan of the action movie genre but I hate two of these movies and am indifferent to a third so only half of this category works for me.

BEST COMEDY

Crazy Rich Asians

Deadpool 2

The Death of Stalin

The Favourite

Game Night

Sorry to Bother You

No A Simple Favor? BOOOOO

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY

Christian Bale – Vice

Jason Bateman – Game Night

Viggo Mortensen – Green Book

John C. Reilly – Stan & Ollie

Ryan Reynolds – Deadpool 2

Lakeith Stanfield – Sorry to Bother You

Okay.

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY

Emily Blunt – Mary Poppins Returns

Olivia Colman – The Favourite

Elsie Fisher – Eighth Grade

Rachel McAdams – Game Night

Charlize Theron – Tully

Constance Wu – Crazy Rich Asians

Unexpected that this is an exact match for Globes (plus McAdams since Critics Choice can't help themselves with tons of nominees per category)

BEST SCI-FI OR HORROR MOVIE

Annihilation

Halloween

Hereditary

A Quiet Place

Suspiria

So Annihilation gets its due here but can't get into "visual effects"? Whatever!

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Burning (South Korea)

Capernaum (Lebanon)

Cold War (Poland)

Roma (Mexico)

Shoplifters (Japan)

I mean... this is a beautiful beautiful list (and better than the Globe list which it matches 3/5... but we'll take Cold War and Burning -- both snubbed at the Globes --over most movies any day of the week so cheers to the BFCA for this list)

BEST SONG

All the Stars – Black Panther

Girl in the Movies – Dumplin’

I’ll Fight – RBG

The Place Where Lost Things Go – Mary Poppins Returns

Shallow – A Star Is Born

Trip a Little Light Fantastic – Mary Poppins Returns

The Globes list with a Mary Poppins double replacing Troye Sivan and Annie Lennox. And since BFCA has larger nomination shortlists (to make Oscar predictions easier) a little Diane Warren thrown in because ya gotta love Diane Warren. I don't remember what I voted for beyond "Shallow"

BEST SCORE

Kris Bowers – Green Book

Nicholas Britell – If Beale Street Could Talk

Alexandre Desplat – Isle of Dogs

Ludwig Göransson – Black Panther

Justin Hurwitz – First Man

Marc Shaiman – Mary Poppins Returns

I guess I shouldn't be surprised to see Green Book pop up here but in truth I don't remember that score (AT ALL). For what it's worth they have been pushing the score hard. Bowers was honored at Middleburg and the movie has a robust awards campaign. This is very similar to the Globes list but Oscar and the Globes rarely see eye to eye on Best Original Score so we have to wonder what surprises lie in store on Oscar nomination morning for this category. Maybe Incredibles 2, Welcome to Marwen, BlacKkKlansman, or Mary Queen of Scots?

THE TELEVISION NOMINEES

BEST DRAMA SERIES

The Americans (FX)

Better Call Saul (AMC)

The Good Fight (CBS All Access)

Homecoming (Amazon)

Killing Eve (BBC America)

My Brilliant Friend (HBO)

Pose (FX)

Succession (HBO)

BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

Freddie Highmore – The Good Doctor (ABC)

Diego Luna – Narcos: Mexico (Netflix)

Richard Madden – Bodyguard (Netflix)

Bob Odenkirk – Better Call Saul (AMC)

Billy Porter – Pose (FX)

Matthew Rhys – The Americans (FX)

Milo Ventimiglia – This Is Us (NBC)

BILLY!

BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

Jodie Comer – Killing Eve (BBC America)

Maggie Gyllenhaal – The Deuce (HBO)

Elisabeth Moss – The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)

Sandra Oh – Killing Eve (BBC America)

Elizabeth Olsen – Sorry For Your Loss (Facebook Watch)

Julia Roberts – Homecoming (Amazon)

Keri Russell – The Americans (FX)

MAGGIE!

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

Richard Cabral – Mayans M.C. (FX)

Asia Kate Dillon – Billions (Showtime)

Noah Emmerich – The Americans (FX)

Justin Hartley – This Is Us (NBC)

Matthew Macfadyen – Succession (HBO)

Richard Schiff – The Good Doctor (ABC)

Shea Whigham – Homecoming (Amazon)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

Dina Shihabi – Jack Ryan (Amazon)

Julia Garner – Ozark (Netflix)

Thandie Newton – Westworld (HBO)

Rhea Seehorn – Better Call Saul (AMC)

Yvonne Strahovski – The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)

Holly Taylor – The Americans (FX)

THANDIE!

BEST COMEDY SERIES

Atlanta (FX)

Barry (HBO)

The Good Place (NBC)

The Kominsky Method (Netflix)

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)

The Middle (ABC)

One Day at a Time (Netflix)

Schitt’s Creek (Pop)

THE GOOD PLACE!

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

Hank Azaria – Brockmire (IFC)

Ted Danson – The Good Place (NBC)

Michael Douglas – The Kominsky Method (Netflix)

Donald Glover – Atlanta (FX)

Bill Hader – Barry (HBO)

Jim Parsons – The Big Bang Theory (CBS)

Andy Samberg – Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Fox)

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

Rachel Bloom – Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (The CW)

Rachel Brosnahan – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)

Allison Janney – Mom (CBS)

Justina Machado – One Day at a Time (Netflix)

Debra Messing – Will & Grace (NBC)

Issa Rae – Insecure (HBO)

RACHEL & JUSTINA!

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

William Jackson Harper – The Good Place (NBC)

Sean Hayes – Will & Grace (NBC)

Brian Tyree Henry – Atlanta (FX)

Nico Santos – Superstore (NBC)

Tony Shalhoub – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)

Henry Winkler – Barry (HBO)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

Alex Borstein – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)

Betty Gilpin – GLOW (Netflix)

Laurie Metcalf – The Conners (ABC)

Rita Moreno – One Day at a Time (Netflix)

Zoe Perry – Young Sheldon (CBS)

Annie Potts – Young Sheldon (CBS)

Miriam Shor – Younger (TV Land)

RITA MORENO AND MIRIAM SHOR. *BLOWS INFINITE KISSES*

BEST LIMITED SERIES

A Very English Scandal (Amazon)

American Vandal (Netflix)

The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (FX)

Escape at Dannemora (Showtime)

Genius: Picasso (National Geographic)

Sharp Objects (HBO)

BEST MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION

Icebox (HBO)

Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert (NBC)

King Lear (Amazon)

My Dinner with Hervé (HBO)

Notes from the Field (HBO)

The Tale (HBO)

BEST ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION

Antonio Banderas – Genius: Picasso (National Geographic)

Darren Criss – The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (FX)

Paul Dano – Escape at Dannemora (Showtime)

Benicio Del Toro – Escape at Dannemora (Showtime)

Hugh Grant – A Very English Scandal (Amazon)

John Legend – Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert (NBC)

BEST ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION

Amy Adams – Sharp Objects (HBO)

Patricia Arquette – Escape at Dannemora (Showtime)

Connie Britton – Dirty John (Bravo)

Carrie Coon – The Sinner (USA Network)

Laura Dern – The Tale (HBO)

Anna Deavere Smith – Notes From the Field (HBO)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION

Brandon Victor Dixon – Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert (NBC)

Eric Lange – Escape at Dannemora (Showtime)

Alex Rich – Genius: Picasso (National Geographic)

Peter Sarsgaard – The Looming Tower (Hulu)

Finn Wittrock – The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (FX)

Ben Whishaw – A Very English Scandal (Amazon)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION

Ellen Burstyn – The Tale (HBO)

Patricia Clarkson – Sharp Objects (HBO)

Penelope Cruz – The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (FX)

Julia Garner – Dirty John (Bravo)

Judith Light – The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (FX)

Elizabeth Perkins – Sharp Objects (HBO)

Hmmm. how you throw Sharp Objects TWO supporting nominations and don't include Eliza Scanlen? That's as perverse as poisoning your own daughter!

We know that Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz are leads — The Favourite's central trio are so clearly all leads — but is Amy Adams a (co-)lead in Vice? Haven't seen that yet but am curious how big her part is.

It's also interesting that Russell Crowe has gotten zero traction in supporting actor while Nicole Kidman seems to be popping up far more often (and likely will be the dreaded sixth spot with the Oscars).

Oh, and speaking of Stone, it's strange that Maniac, with its high-profile cast (Stone, Jonah Hill, Sally Field, Justin Theroux, etc.) and director (Cary Fukunaga), has been completely shut out by the Globes and now the Critics Choice. Is it just too weird/dark? I personally loved it, and think the twice-nominated (for other shows) Julia Garner should've gotten a nomination for this. She has such lived-in, familial chemistry with Stone, playing sisters.

That Jim Parsons, Andy Samberg, and, sad to say, Allison Janney keep getting easy nominations for their lame network shows (vs. innovative ones like Maniac) is wild. That said, Laurie Metcalf and her daughter, Zoe Perry, are nominated in the same category, so love that.

Happy for Homecoming and Julia Roberts and Shea Whigham! But no nods for Stephan James and Marianne jean-Baptiste? And still no love for The Romanoffs -- I'm beginning to think I am one of the 9 people in this world who didn't hate it. Superb acting performances in that series are plentiful.

I would have thought this critics group would include Rachel McAdams and Alessandro Nivola for Disobedience, or even a surprise nomination for Joanna Kulig in Cold War. With the expanded list of nominees, still no nominations for Jonathan Pryce and Jocelyn Pook's haunting score for The Wife, Elizabeth Debicki and Cynthia Erivo, and Tilda Swinton?

They can't come up with 7 nominees for Best Adapted Screenplay ignoring Death of Stalin and Leave No Trace (both excellent)? Especially galling when they do include just adequate Black Panther and A Star Is Born.

Also as far as an Oscar nomination for Green Book's score - it ain't gonna happen. It was declared ineligible.

I'm so here for the Rachel McAdams in Game Night nod and she will make my best supporting top 5.

I'm not here for the abundance of Black Panther. Whatever, gIve it a Best Picture for its hold on the culture. Sure, give it best costumes. They were fantastic. But jeez? Cinematography? It only looked marginally better than any other Marvel film, which are typically glossy, flat and visually uninspired. Visual Effects? Laughably bad in places. PASS

Weisz deserves all the accolades she can get for The Favourite. She was just as sensational as Colman, and would have made a great addition to the Best Actress lineup if she'd campaigned there. For the record, Stone is excellent too.

That Charlie Plummer was eligible for Young Performer and didn't get in for Lean on Pete justifies my collective eyeroll for the BFCA that I give every year. As Peggy Sue states above, do they EVER pick an out-of-box choice?

It's difficult to take an awards body seriously when the number of honorees fluctuates for no apparent reason (7 for original screenplay, 6 for adapted... huh?) and the nominations read like Oscar predictions. They have luxuriously large categories and they still can't come up with any idiosyncratic picks? Even the Satellites manage a few refreshingly weird ones every year.

"Schitt's Creek" gets in for Comedy Series (Thank You!) but no Catherine O'Hara? Damn. Did these folks also nominate "Sophie's Choice" for Best Picture, but neglect to nominate Meryl Streep for Best Actress? (I know this organization doesn't go back that far, but I'm too annoyed to focus and think of a better analogy.)

Also, the Oscars could take a page from this playbook and nominate seven actors and actresses, actually. I'm thinking more big stars from big movies would get in and make those races more exciting to people. It's better than the crazy "Best Popular Film' idea, don't you think?

LOL! And Sasha Stone! She likes EVERYTHING! that could be Oscar-y. Then again, she protests for the lack of women directors. She comes across as a schizo! It's no wonder there are 6-7-8 nominees per group. People like her want every single annoited Oscar-y film to be there. And, at the same time, screams people get behind ONE women director. So you have to choose either Granik or Heller or Jenkins!! Unbelievable!

It also astounds me that this so-called "critics" group can make room for special "action", "sci-fi/horror", etc. awards, but no "independent" or "low-budget" categories, or no non-English beyond the foreign film sop they throw to us art dweebs.

In a sinking feeling towards the Academy’s decision to cut certain ‘audience boring’ categories for a shorter ceremony-if this Critic’s Choice list is an indication of what the Oscar final cut might be-I’m finding, as a movie/Oscar lover, that most of these ‘boring’ categories are really neck-n-neck right now. I want to see the actual presentation of whoever wins Cinematography, Costume Design, Editing and Visual Effects! I’m suspecting that the final hit list might be decided once the winners are known. I’m sure if the Academy know that Black Panther or Beale St. are winners for Hair/Make-up, Production Design or Score-I bet the winners of those ‘boring’ categories will somehow not be read during the commercial breaks...

The Critics' Choice nominations seem only to exist to forecast the likeliest Oscar nominees at a particular point in time. Hence, 7 nominees in some of the acting categories so next year they can say 'See! We nominated all 5 Oscar nominees last year! Take us seriously!'. Twas thus and ever will be. So it's not a group I look to for out-of-the-box thinking.

The only surprise I really noted here in any of the Oscar-adjacent categories was CRAZY RICH ASIANS for Production Design.

It stops being hilarious when the most lazy-assed members of the Academy pick up seeing what's already on the menu. And these a*holes are doing the "homework" for them. "Hey, we have LOTS of options! Choose one!

I've always thought the actors, the largest members of the Academy, are not very good at discerning good from mediocre. Otherwise Mortensen wouldn't have chosen such ridiculuos stereotype of a character. I don't think he's lacking offers! But here we are. Denying GET OUT ever happened!

This body-group should make "Don't think about pre-ordained Oscar film" a RULE an done with it!!

And as much as I loved Mary Poppins' original, it doesn't look to me like a risky choice either.

A male "Driving Miss Daisy" vs. Mary Poppins. Welcome back to 30 years ago, 2018! I'm sure there are no better movies than them to nominate:((

Are in te conversation and been nominated and awarded besides their "ok / not so good" work in the movies I mentioned, U REALLY understand the things and see that the inclusion talk still is a bullshit to this industry.

It is not inclusion when female professionals has extraordinaries works to be awarded and critics don't give a fuck to that, besides the male mediocre they are awarding. Inclusion is every single filmmaker, woman, white, no-White be celebrated for their work as equal in the talk.

still is the same shit as usual. I am really piss off with that.

the critics say that they are doing the "homework" to the Academy, nominating people who deserves. They are not! They are still doing the same shit as usual because they don't understand that every single part of the industry, if give a extraordinary work, should be in the talks in the limelight as their male (white / non-white) professionals.

I don't get the mentions today and yesterday at LAFCA for Black Panther's Production Design. It looks so clunky to me, like a CGI-enhanced stage lot. Even a bit old school Star Trekky. There's a lot to love in that film -- Costumes and MBJ come to mind -- but I cringe that it's winning/getting nominations in these PD categories.

Yes, I agree with much of the dissent here. I don't want to sound like a troll. But scrolling through these film nominations, I just suddenly got the feeling that we are now in the section of the awards season where there are no more surprises. *sigh* Let's just fast forward onto the Oscar nominations now, please.

Agree. But I have a feeling HE wants to be the winner this time around. Call it the "Oscar-whore" syndrome. They're the worst of all.. And they are ALL actors.

And to think he did a wonderful weird film in my country called "Jauja". Speaking in three languages. Of course, no one ever saw it. I think this group in particular (the actors) don't see enough films so they choose what's pre-ordained during the month available to vote.

Let's see how the SAGs turn out. Buy my suspicion is that those reggressive films I complain about will be well represented.

Those horrific Scott Feinberg's "Brutal Honest" Members are just a sample of who they are.

So, it's on the actual critics to amplify their narrow views. The directors' branch are more interested in the form. Just seeing tweets of some of the most well known recommending films that are no part of the "menu" bring me some sense of justice.

I thin it's time, also, to create a rule that says the TIFF's audiences winner should be banned from any Oscar prognostication. Audiences winners from any jigh profile festival don't need any Oscar push, whatsoever.

Besides, between last year's winner and this year's winner I'm getting mad how "critics" rely so heavyly on Torontonians' tastes.

Otherwise, instruct the usual Torontonians moviegoers to join the Academy, for they apparently have a CRYSTAL BALL that's undeniable. I'm sure other moviegoers from remote festivals will be happy with this decision.

Re varying number of nominees. I would be OK with this if they were transparent about their voting method. Is there a quota of votes that results in nomination? Is there a rule that says if candidate is within x votes of 5th place nominee, then it is a tie? Or is there a secret save committee? (I am not so OK with that one.)Someone must count the votes (or write code to count) and that someone must have been given instructions so why not make those instructions available to members who request a copy. The old question: conspiracy or incompetence?